


Brave New Worlds

by SingManyFaces



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fluff, Gen, Shippy Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-25
Updated: 2019-11-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:22:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,738
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21556186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SingManyFaces/pseuds/SingManyFaces
Summary: Anakin makes a different choice on Mandalore.  Set in the upcoming season 7.
Relationships: Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker & Ahsoka Tano
Comments: 6
Kudos: 104





	Brave New Worlds

**Author's Note:**

  * For [zarabithia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/zarabithia/gifts).



The crew quarters of the old freighter set a quiet scene, calm, even breathing and the whisper of metal components gliding into place the only sounds to be heard. Ahsoka propped her elbow on her knee and rested her chin on her upturned palm as she watched the two masters at work. Grinning, “You haven’t inverted the emitter matrix, have you?”

Cracking an eye open, Anakin sounded more amused than offended, “Excuse you?”

“He’s never done that _un_ intentionally,” Obi-Wan defended warmly, rousing soft laughter from his companions.

In that moment their recent troubles felt like they were from another lifetime—in a way, they were. Getting involved with Mandalore, discovering Maul there; Ahsoka had known Obi-Wan would want to know, want to _be_ there, and that Anakin wouldn’t be far behind. So she had made the call and they’d had their reunion, awkwardness fading away quickly as they’d fallen into step with one another again and their plan had come together.

It was on the eve of the siege that they had gotten _another_ call. 

Dooku had abducted the Chancellor, and the Council wanted their best men for the job of getting him back. They’d wanted Obi-Wan and Anakin. 

After the call Obi-Wan’s annoyance had been brief, or at least the evidence of it had; he had schooled his features so quickly. Anakin, on the other hand...It hadn’t been annoyance that squirmed through his Presence in the Force then, but conflict; Ahsoka and Obi-Wan had felt the push and pull of it as an almost physical sensation. To him it hadn’t been a matter of orders but loyalty, another moment in time when he was being made to choose between two people he cared about. The air had grown thick and oppressive with his internal struggle—when the tension suddenly broke like a storm front, and he had shaken his head. 

“No,” he’d murmured, then stronger as he’d turned to Obi-Wan, “No, you have to call them back, tell them we won’t go.”

Their surprise had been as palpable as his strife had been.

“Master—”

“Anakin—”

“No,” he’d repeated, more firm each time, as he shook his head again. “Even with the hyperlanes we’re days away—assuming nothing else gets in our way while we’re traveling.” He’d nodded as though he were trying to convince himself. “They shouldn’t be waiting that long to recover the Chancellor. Not when there must be other Jedi closer.”

Obi-Wan had looked him over quickly, assessing, before meeting Anakin’s mania-touched gaze with a steady one of his own. “And?”

For a moment Anakin had clearly looked like he was scrambling for another answer. “ _And_ there’s a known Sith Lord here too, threatening a system he’s already taken once before, again.”

A brusque nod and then Obi-Wan had stepped closer into the other man’s space, lowered his voice so that only the three of them could hear. “And?”

Anakin’s lips had twisted; he’d looked like he was expecting a scolding. “And I can’t leave her again because of the Council,” he’d admitted with the barest nod to his former apprentice, “I won’t. Not this time.”

The words had knocked the wind from Ahsoka’s lungs; she’d have understood! She knew well how close a friend the Chancellor had always been to Anakin, she wouldn’t have asked him to ignore the call. But before she’d had the chance to tell him just that, Obi-Wan had nodded again as he stepped back.

“I’ll make the call,” he agreed with a sardonic smile, “but they’re not going to be happy.” In the Force, for once, he’d felt like he cared about that as little as Anakin had.

But, then, they’d had no idea how right he’d been. 

The battle that had become known as the Siege of Mandalore had been a success...but the Battle over Coruscant hadn’t been, not completely. The Jedi that had been sent in Obi-Wan and Anakin’s place had retrieved the Chancellor, but not without a cost; the former leader still laid comatose in Coruscant’s best hospital. And while the beleaguered Senate saw no need for sanctions—they’d agreed that sending nearer Jedi was a better course of action—the same could not be said for the Order. 

It had been the last straw.

Anakin hadn’t exploded as he’d resigned from the Order, had perhaps felt more calm than he had in years as he’d made the decision half the Council had expected he one day would. Surprising them all, though—all but Master Yoda—had been Obi-Wan, leaving with him. And leaving the Order, no matter what the circumstances, meant leaving your lightsaber behind as well.

Later, Ahsoka had felt certain that Master Plo—had he not been off world at the time—would have found a way to sneak the sabers back to them. Quinlan Vos, there on one of his rare returns home, had made the same offer himself. Though grateful the two had declined, asking instead for components. After all, if their weapons were their lives, it was fitting that they make new ones.

And now, in their temporary home of the old freighter, it was nearly time to ignite them.

“Is it weird that I’m getting a little excited about this?” Ahsoka asked, leaning over her knees to peer more closely as the final components were fit into place.

“It has been a while, for both of us,” Obi-Wan acknowledged. “I think the last time I assembled a new lightsaber from scratch was...”

“Just before you took me as a Padawan,” Anakin completed quietly, the corner of his mouth twitching.

“So it was,” the older man agreed, a tinge of old sadness to his smile. Plucking his finished saber from the air, he reached across the space between them to pat Anakin’s knee, arching a brow. “Much like the last time for you, not long before Ahsoka came to us.”

A snort, “So it was.” Offering her a smile, Anakin knocked his shoulder into Ahsoka’s before claiming his own finished saber.

She returned the gesture before clasping her hands, casting an eager glance between the two of them. “So...?”

Obi-Wan chuckled, agreeing, “Yes, no time like the present, I suppose.” Standing, he gripped his new creation firmly, hesitating only to gesture invitingly to Anakin, should he prefer to go first; Anakin waved him off with a shake of his head. With a familiar _snap-hiss_ the blade ignited, filling the space with its steady blue glow. Ahsoka clapped softly while Anakin gave a cheer as his former master made a—careful—flourish in the air before extinguishing the blade with a playful bow. “Alright, old friend,” he beckoned as he seated himself again, hooking his lightsaber to his belt, “Now it’s your turn.”

“Gladly!” Anakin rose, confident in his design: similar to his old one but with a few minor improvements. As Obi-Wan had before him, he ignited the blade.

And immediately sat back down.

“Um.” It wasn’t an eloquent reaction, but it was the only one he could manage as he stared at the new blade.

The vibrant _purple_ blade.

“That’s...” Ahsoka breathed, a quiet sort of awe in her voice as she raised a brow, “new.”

“Do you think it’s the crystal, maybe?” It hadn’t felt right to either of them to return to Ilum, given the circumstances, so they had stopped off at Christophsis instead for their less formal Seekings. It was Anakin’s first time using a crystal that hadn’t come from Ilum; maybe that could affect the color.

Tilting her head in thought, Ahsoka pointed out, “But Obi-Wan’s is still blue.” Her gaze, like Anakin’s own, remained fixed on the purple glow of the blade.

“I...” he huffed a laugh at himself, admitting, “I’m not sure how I feel about this.” Aside from the oddity of the change itself, he had only ever seen one other purple lightsaber. To him, it didn’t exactly have a positive connotation.

“You should feel proud,” Obi-Wan nearly startled the other two as he broke his silence, sinking to his knees in the space between them, “It’s beautiful. And I have to agree, I don’t think it’s the difference in the crystal.” He closed his hand over Anakin’s on the hilt, gently thumbing off the switch to extinguish the blade. “I think it’s the difference in you.”

He was as unprepared for those words as he’d been for his lightsaber. “What do you mean,” his eyes narrowed as they always did when he suspected the other man might be having fun with him, “the difference in me?

But Obi-Wan wasn’t joking then, his other hand coming to enclose Anakin’s as well. “You are wise and strong, Anakin, but all of the decisions you’ve made, that have brought you here?” His emotions, so frequently a mystery to Anakin over the years, were unmistakable now in his voice, the softness of his expression. “Now you’re coming into yourself in a way you never have before, and I am very proud of you.”

Overcome by the heartfelt words, Anakin ducked his head, lips curving up into a smile.

“And you—” Ahsoka did startle that time as Obi-Wan’s focus moved to her, his expression just as gentle, “If Anakin is leading he and I down a new path, it’s only because you put him on it in the first place.” He shifted to close a hand warmly on her shoulder. “If not for your incredible strength of will, we wouldn’t be here.”

Though just as overwhelmed as her former master had been, Ahsoka expressed her affections outwardly, launching herself at Obi-Wan and throwing her arms around him. “Thank you,” she told him, voice hushed.

“No, no...” he chuckled, the sound fading into a wheeze as her embrace tightened, “It’s just the truth.” Obi-Wan gave her back two quick pats and she released him. “They say that students teach their masters as well,” he told them, looking between Anakin and Ahsoka both, “I’m ready to start learning this new chapter.”

Summoning some humor, Anakin’s lips quirked into something approximating his usual grin. “No pressure, eh, Master?”

“None.” He surprised them both, then, by tucking Ahsoka into his side and pulling Anakin down into the embrace as well. “I’ve said it before and it’s still true—“ he breathed deep, and the uncertain future suddenly felt as solid and secure as the dear ones in his arms, “We’ll be fine, as long as we stay together.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! You can find me on tumblr @singmanyfaces if you want to drop by. :D


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